Untold Stories of Percy Jackson (and the others)
by PegasusHydra
Summary: A collection of oneshots inspired by quotes from PJO like stories that weren't explained in detail. The stories about the blue food, enchilada day at the cafeteria, Annabeth getting her Yankees cap, and so on.
1. Field Trips

**Hey, it's Pegasus again! You might have noticed Hydra's not doing much. Well, I don't have any news on that. Anyway, I'm going to try to juggle two active stories at once. Might be hard, but I think I can do it. I might not be updating this often, but I hope you guys like it. Tell me your thoughts in tthe end in a review. Thanks!**

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_See, bad things happen to me on field trips. Like at my fifth-grade school, when we went to the Saratoga battlefield, I had this accident with a Revolutionary War cannon. I wasn't aiming for the school bus, but of course I got expelled, anyway. And before that, when we took a behind-the-scenes tour of the Marine World shark pool, I sort of hit the wrong lever on the catwalk and our class took an unplanned swim. And the time before that… Well, you get the idea. -pg. 2_ _The Lightning Thief_

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I plodded along with my class as we took in the view of the Saratoga battlefield. Actually, there wasn't much to look at; it was just a grassy field all the way around. The only thing stood out was a cannon and our ugly yellow school bus in the distance which signified that it was almost time to leave. I was bursting with excitement—if I could even make it there.

I lingered in the back, knowing that I might cause trouble. And hey, it wasn't _all_ my fault. They were accidents! …most of the time.

Seeing the cannon didn't help. I could only wonder what I could do with it. Shoot it at Mr. Aldin? At the kids? Maybe even blow it up into pieces—not that I wanted to, of course.

"Now everyone," Mr. Aldin said. "Can anyone tell me what this is?"

"A Revolutionary War cannon," someone said, probably someone who was so psyched up for this field trip that they actually researched this thing. Me? I was one of the ones who just happened to get dragged along on the field trip.

"Yes," he said. "I've spoken with the managers of this place, and they said that the cannon is in working condition. You can all have a chance to shoot it once, then go line up at the school bus."

Everyone cheered and rushed to line up at the cannon. As expected, there were a lot of pushing and shoving and yelling about who cutting who.

"And Percy," Mr. Aldin said next to me. "Don't cause any more trouble. I decided to trust you this one time and let you participate."

"Yes, sir," I mumbled.

I already caused a lot of trouble that wasn't even entirely my fault. Like at the restroom, the pipes exploded, and of course, that happened _right_ when I was there. So I was claimed responsible.

"Hey, you, go to the back!" a kid said.

"His name's Percy," another kid said.

"The troublemaker," one added.

"Thanks," I grumbled. "That was unneeded."

I kept my head down, my hair covering my eyes, and walked to the back of the line. From the front, I heard things like, "It's my turn! Stop cutting!"

"I'm not cutting! Hey, you got out of line, go to the back!"

"What do you mean, go to the back? There's already someone there!"

"Cookies are awesome!"

I don't know what the last part was about, but I silently agreed with that. I love my mom's blue chocolate chip cookies. I haven't had them since Christmas vacation, since I was at a boarding school.

After a long 30 minutes, it was finally my turn.

"Hurry up, Percy!" Mr. Aldin yelled. "The bus is about to leave!"

"What?" I said, not hearing him properly.

The cannon shot a cannonball in their direction, and it hit the bus behind them. The bus exploded, along with a bunch of backpacks that were loaded in boxes. All the students screamed and ran.

I winced. I didn't mean to do that. I ran over to them where Mr. Aldin was glaring at me murderously.

"Perseus Jackson," I flinched, "Have I not told you not to cause any more trouble?"

"But I wasn't—" I protested, but he cut me off.

"No buts," he said like every single teacher I've met. "You should just be glad that luckily, no one was in the bus."

"Nothing but a few backpacks," I said under my breath.

"What did you say?"

"Nothing."

"This'll have to go to the principal. In the meantime, it's time to be getting back," he grunted.

"How?" I asked warily. "Call a taxi for all of us?"

"No. We're walking," he said.

When we got back to the school, I was immediately sent to the principal's office. Well, scratch that. The next day. We arrived at school after curfew.

"So what did you do _this_ time, Perseus Jackson?" the principal asked resisting to sigh.

I had a feeling that the principal was getting tired of seeing me at least twice a month. Truthfully, I was getting tired of that too. "We were at the Saratoga battlefield and I accidentally shot the cannon at the school bus."

"There's no 'accidentally' to it," the principal said finally letting out the sigh. "You'll have to be expelled."

"For the hundredth time," I mumbled.

* * *

"And these are tiger sharks," the tour guide, Paula, said motioning to a shark.

She kept on talking and I started spacing out. I looked at the shark tank and the sharks were all… staring at me. I just hoped that they weren't thinking of me as their meal.

We were at a field trip at the Marine World shark pool. I didn't mind it so much. It was better than going to a museum or something.

Our teacher suddenly stopped us. "You'll be writing a report on this when we get back to school, so listen up.

We all sighed in unison and nodded. I looked at the tank. The sharks were still staring at me. That wasn't good.

"So any questions?" Paula asked, and one girl raised her hand.

"When will we go behind-the-scenes?" she asked.

The tour guide chuckled. "Right now," she chuckled. "Follow me."

I took one more look at the sharks, shuddered, and followed the group.

Paula led us up to the catwalk, where the shark tank was still next to us with the sharks still staring as me as they swam around. Oh, goody.

Paula started explaining about what lever does what and a bunch more things I couldn't care less about. Instead, I let my mind wander on when I'll be able to go home and see my mom and Smelly Gabe again. I could still remember his stench even though I wasn't anywhere near him. Yuck.

Most kids were listening eagerly to the conversation. Others were joking around. Some girls were playing hand gamed that I would never understand.

"Can anyone explain what we have learned so far?" our teacher asked.

None of us raised our hands.

"If you don't answer, you'll have to swim with a bunch of sharks," he said in a joking tone.

Still, none of us raise your hand.

He sighed. "I guess you'll have an easy time writing your reports then!"

We continued the tour. I kept my eyes on the shark tank and one mako shark stared back. I looked away and chided myself for looking at it. No one wants to stare at a tank filled with half a dozen sharks that want to eat you for lunch.

Instead, I tried to concentrate on the tour guide, but my mind wouldn't let me. My ADHD made my eyes wander around, usually ending up at the shark tank.

"Stop looking at the sharks," I told myself out loud.

Some of the students gave me weird looks but quickly returned interest to whatever they were doing.

_Stop looking at the sharks, stop looking at the sharks, _my brain told me. But my eyes refused and kept looking at the sharks… until one of them butted its head against the glass looking straight at me.

I jumped and backed up—a little too much. I backed up into one of the levers and there was a sudden loud sound. Paula stopped talking, and the next thing I knew, I was submerged in water.

I shut my eyes tight and held my breath. I felt something brush against my legs. I swam up to the surface easily and let out a huge breath. I started coughing and saw what touched me.

I let out a squeak (I hope nobody heard) as I saw half the sharks swimming around me.

_Go away! _I thought panicking, and the sharks _did_ go away.

I sighed, not believing my luck, but something told me that it wasn't luck (I have very bad luck)—they were just following my orders. But that was impossible, I decided. One cannot control sharks' minds.

The other kids were screaming, just by the fact that they were around sharks while Paula was telling them to calm down. I think some might have peed their pants. Hopefully that wouldn't kill the sharks.

"Who pressed the lever?" our teacher demanded once we were all gathered up.

There were a bunch of "Not me!"'s and pointing, until someone said, "It was Percy!"

That blabbermouth. The teacher gave me a look that said _We'll talk later._

Well, two things were right: I _do_ have very bad luck and we all swam with the sharks, just like the teacher said.

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** I could've included the other events that got Percy expelled, but I didn't know if you guys would've wanted that or not. So maybe I'll add it in the future. Maybe. R&R!**


	2. Enchiladas

_You should have seen him run when it was enchilada day in the cafeteria. –pg. 3 __The Lightning Thief_

"So Percy," Grover said limping along next to me as we went to the cafeteria. "What's the lunch today?"

"Enchiladas," I said nonchalantly.

To be honest, I wasn't the biggest fan of enchiladas. Well, I guess they were okay once in a while, but I'd rather start eating myself than eat enchiladas every day.

Grover's eyes widened. "Why didn't you tell me sooner?"

"What?"

He didn't answer me and zipped off to the cafeteria at 100 mph. I didn't see how he could run so fast with his muscle disorder.

I ran to catch up with my best friend, but by the time I got in line for lunch, he was already eating his enchilada on the way to the tables.

"Wow," I said. "You're fast."

Grover froze for a second then regained his composure. "Eh, yeah. Anyway, hurry up Percy. I'm not going to wait all day!"

He went back to his normal limping state to the tables while I got a chicken enchilada. I brought it back to the table where Grover and I ate—in the corner.

"So what did you get?" Grover asked.

"Chicken," I said as I slid in next to him.

He stared at me as if I was crazy then went back to inhaling his enchilada.

"Hey, do you think they'll let us get seconds?" he asked as he threw his paper tray away.

"You're done?" I said staring at him in amazement. "I don't know. You have an extra lunch token?"

He dug in his pockets and pulled out some paper, plastic, an aluminum can, and one extra lunch ticket. "Whoo! That's one more extra enchilada for me!"

I rolled my eyes as he ran off to the cafeteria again at the speed of light and came back just as quick. "I don't know how you run with your muscle disorder, unless your fueling it with your obsession with enchiladas."

"Hey, enchiladas are good!"

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**Short chapter. Not all stories are going to be long. ^^' But don't worry. This will be continued later, I believe. Just wait for it. ^.^**

**Thanks for reading~ R&R.**


	3. Candy and Tom Sawyer

**I can't believe I forgot about this chapter. XP I'm trying to sort it by how far it is in the books, though some of them will be left out (though I might write it later). So don't mind it if the order gets kind of messed up.  
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_All I could think of was that the teachers must've found out the illegal stash of candy I'd been selling out of my dorm room. Or maybe they realized that I got my essay on Tom Sawyer from the Internet without ever reading the book and now they were going to take away my grade. Or worse, they were going to make me read the book. – pg. 12 __The Lightning Thief_

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"Hey, Grover," I said unpacking my things in my dorm. "Guess what? I got some candy from my mom's work."

Grover raised an eyebrow. "Are you sure it's okay?"

I shrugged. "She gave me some extras that didn't get sold. Come on, let's dig in."

I tore open the bag of candy and placed it on the floor. I ate all the blueberry sour strings while Grover ate a candy cane. He bit out a huge piece and gulped it down like an apple.

"What are we going to do with the extras?" Grover asked pouring some jellies down his throat.

"I dunno. _Will_ we have extras?"

Apparently, we did.

I stopped eating after I found out that I ate all the blue candy, and Grover had nearly fainted from eating so much.

"Uh, Grover? You all right, man?" I said uncertainly.

"Foooood," he mumbled.

"You just had a lot of candy!"

I gathered up the remaining candy and saw that some other guys in our dorm were staring at it.

"One piece of candy for a dollar?" I suggested weakly.

They nearly stampeded over and grabbed whatever they could.

"Here you go," one guy said. "You're the best!"

"Thanks so much Percy!" another said.

"You're awesome!"

"These are great!"

I looked in the bag. I still had some candy left over. I counted my money and counted it up to roughly twenty-five bucks (in roughly thirty minutes). Then again, I could be wrong because the numbers were swimming around in my head. As you can see, I suck at math… especially since I don't even pay attention to Mrs. Dodds during class.

I looked around in my room. My roommates were all munching on candy and Grover was still on the floor moaning, "Foooood."

I sighed and got the biggest piece of paper I could find. With a blue marker, I wrote in huge and messy letters, _Selling Candy for a Dollar a Piece!_ _First Come, First Serve! _I posted it outside our door.

"Hey, Perce," Grover said sounding like he just woke up. "You know that's illegal right?"

"You make it sound like I'm going to get arrested."

"You might as well be if they tell Mrs. Dodds about it."

"It's the boys' dorm! I'm not going to get caught. And besides, I'm not the type to follow rules," I grinned.

There was a knock on the door.

I opened it and saw a line of students with money. I got out my bag of candy and they greedily snatched at it and gave me their money. I didn't even count to see if it was correct—I didn't have a chance.

"Thank you!" I said and took down my hastily made poster. I tore it into small pieces and scattered it into different trashcans so I wouldn't get caught.

"Success!" I said holding up my money.

Grover shook his head. "I knew I shouldn't have let you do that."

"Hey, easy twenty bucks."

* * *

"Hey, Grover!" I said barging into our dorm room.

Grover looked up from his copy of _Tom Sawyer._ "Yeah?"

"Uh, can you help me with the essay?" I said sheepishly. "I tried reading the book, but I didn't get too far."

"How far did you get?" he asked putting his book face down on his table.

"One paragraph."

"At least you improved from one sentence," he grunted. "But you need to read the book and summarize it for a part of the essay!"

"Exactly!" I said. "So can you tell me what the book's about?"

Grover held dup his hands. "Whoa there, Perce. I know that you're my best friend and all, but that's like cheating."

"Who else do I ask?" I exclaimed. "The Internet?"

"That's _also_ another form of cheating," Grover said.

"I can't read!"

"Technically, you _can_. It's just that you have trouble with it."

I sighed and got out my copy of _Tom Sawyer._ I tried to read, but my dyslexia kept getting in the way.

"Are there any audio books?" I complained.

"The library's out," Grover said. "Believe me, I checked."

"Why can't they have dyslexia-friendly versions?" I complained throwing my book across the room. "I'll be back."

I hoped that it would work. The essay was due tomorrow, and I haven't even started reading the book, much less writing.

I went to the library and got on a computer. I opened up Google and started searching for essays of _Tom Sawyer._ I clicked on links until I found a good one.

"Excuse me," I said to the librarian. "Can I print this out?"

I took the copy and rushed the back to the dorm, clutching it to my chest.

"I'm back," I said grabbing a piece of paper and a pen.

"So what did you do?" Grover asked curiously.

I looked at him skeptically. "Promise you won't tell?"

"Promise."

I showed him the print-out and started copying down the essay.

Grover tutted at me. "Wow."

"Too bad Mr. Nicoll wants it handwritten. What kind of English teacher asks for a handwritten final?"

"_Neat _handwritten final," Grover put in.

I rolled my eyes. "Mr. Nicoll knows full well that my handwriting is sloppy."

"He probably wants it handwritten because he doesn't wants students doing what you just did."

"Then tell the librarian to be more secure about printing."

Grover thought about it. "Yeah, I guess that's true."

"Pass it up!" Mr. Nicoll said.

I passed up my essay and Mr. Nicoll stared at it as if it were from outer space.

"Percy Jackson," he said. "For the first time in months you did your assignment."

The class started snickering.

"Yes, sir," I mumbled. I prayed (not sure to whom) that I wouldn't get caught.

When we got them back graded, I looked at mine and was surprised by my grade.

"What'd you get?" Grover whispered.

"I got a C+ for messy writing," I said slamming the paper down hard on my desk.

Grover took a look. "It says, 'Your writing is too messy, so I had a hard time reading what you wrote. But the parts that _were_ readable were good, so be glad that you got a C+ and not an F.'"

"What the heck," I muttered.


	4. Smelly Gabe

_Finally she married Gabe Ugliano, who was nice the first thirty seconds we knew him, then showed his true colors as a world-class jerk. –The Lightning Thief p. 30_

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I groaned as my new stepdad, Gabriel Ugliano, moved in. "Why, Mom? Why him? Anyone else would've been fine."

The newly cleaned apartment immediately started to smell like moldy pizza as my stepdad came in the door. I wanted to barf. I was only seven, and I was going to enter 2nd grade soon in about a month. It just happened that they got married at this particular time. Gabe, in the least sense, was ugly. He barely had any hair, and the hair he did have was combed over his oily head. He looked so bad, his last name, Ugliano, seemed like a cruel joke.

"It was the only way, honey," my mom said shaking her head.

"Hello, Sally," Gabe said coming in the kitchen. It was already amazing that he walked here. He looked like the type to sit down on the couch and watch TV all day. "This must be your son?"

"Yes," she said not meeting his eyes. "Percy, meet Gabe."

As he came closer, the stench coming off from his body was unbearable. I held my breath and said, "Nice to meet you."

He just patted me on the shoulder, which was more like a big slap. "Sally, unload my things in my room. And some pizza would be good."

"But the only other room besides Mom's is mine," I protested. It probably wasn't smart, but I didn't care. I didn't want this smelly old man living with us.

His tiny pig-like eyes bore into me. "Mind your mouth runt," he snarled. "Or I'll—"

My mom quickly stepped in. "Percy, you're going to a boarding school. Gabe can have your room when you leave. I'm sure he can wait a while."

Gabe grunted and slouched on the couch and passed gas which caused it to squeak. I didn't blame it. I would've felt the same way. Just maybe a bit worse.

My mom steered me away. "Come on. Let's order your stepdad some pizza."

Luckily our phone was _not_ in the living room, and as my mom finished ordering the pizza, she knelt down to my eye level.

"I know this is hard for you," she said, "but this is for your own good."

"Sure, living with Smelly Gabe is going to be my destiny," I grumbled.

There was a slight trace of a smile on my mom's face. "No, you're destiny will be greater," she promised. "Better than living with a tuskless walrus."

"Guess we have the same thoughts."

My mom laughed and kissed me. "I'll tell you everything when you're older. Promise. And Percy, you'll be the greatest hero of all."

I had no idea what that meant, but I followed her out. When we got back out to the living room, we saw that Gabe had already invited some other people, one who I recognized as Eddie, our building super, and were playing poker.

"Hey, Sally, get me some chips and some guacamole. And where's the pizza?" Gabe said.

"It's on the way, dear," she said and poured out some chips into a bowl.

"Hey, kid," Gabe said. "Get us some plates and some sodas."

I rolled my eyes. Why don't you get your huge butt off the sofa and get them yourself when they're right next to you in the kitchen? I wanted to say, but I just got some paper plates and grabbed a six-pack of Coke. They were originally for me, but it seemed like I would be getting it rid of it in a day.

"Hey, Mom," I said as I tried to balance the Cokes on the paper plates.

"Yeah?" she said holding two bowls of chips and guacamole.

"I think we're going to need a lot of food in this house," I said.

She smiled and ruffled my hair. "Yes, I think so too."

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**Another super short chapter. Anyway, I'm just assuming that he was seven. I don't know what his age was since he never elaborated on that. And I _think _he's in second grade if he's seven since his birthday is in August... is what I _want_ to say. I was too lazy to figure it out. XP So yeah.**

**R&R!**


	5. Blue Food

**Here's the next chapter, on the first day of December (well, for me at least)! I'm going to try to respond to reviews the best I can (if I do get any).  
**

**Percabethwilllive4eva- I probably _will_ get to that, because I'm going from order, both by books and page number. So that probably won't be until in a bit. And for some stories that seem like it's going to be too long for a oneshot, I'm just going to make a whole separate story for it (but I'll say that I did, if I ever happen to). I'm probably going to make a new story soon anyway because this is my only story I'm working on ATM.  
**

**And guys, it's nice that you're reading this and faving/following this and all, but can you try to give at least one review? I mean, it's just that I hardly get any reviews, and the notifications are just mostly favorites and followers. Well, I guess I could understand why you don't review (because I don't either. XD) but I'd like it. Anyway, here's the next chapter (might be a bit OOC).**

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_They had this fight which seemed like a really small thing at the time. But ever since, my mom went out of her way to eat blue. –pg. 37 __The Lightning Thief_

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"Good morning Percy," my mom said from the kitchen.

Gabe grunted. "Sally, get me some breakfast, will you?"

"What do you want?"

He didn't answer. He was too busy playing poker with his friends who passed gas.

"Ew," I said.

"Yes," my mom agreed. "Percy, then what do _you_ want for breakfast?"

I shrugged and let my shoulders sag. "Anything will do."

I wasn't in my best of moods today because I had just gotten expelled from another school and Smelly Gabe had found out… and well, things had turned into an extreme turn of events.

"It'll be all right," she said. "We'll just find you another school."

I slumped down in my seat at the kitchen table. "Then I'll have two pancakes and a waffle please."

My mom smiled. "That's my Percy. What color?"

"Sorry?"

"You heard me," she said. "What color?"

I grinned. "Blue, please."

Smelly Gabe scoffed. "There's no such thing as blue food!"

"Yes there is, and I'll make it happen," my mom snapped.

I leaned back in surprise. I didn't really hear her get up to that tone often.

"Sure, Sally," Gabe said rolling his tiny eyes. "Blue food doesn't exist."

"Hey, calm down Gabe," Eddie said. "I've seen blue food in my life, and I'm pretty sure they were blue. I'm not color blind."

Gabe laughed. "But blue pancakes and waffles? That's impossible."

I saw my mom fume for a moment before she went back to making breakfast. I saw her get some food coloring from the cupboard and dropped a few drops in the batter. Later I heard a whirring sound, like a blender, and my mom came with the breakfast.

"Here's your _blue_ blueberry pancakes," she said as she set them in front of me. "And your _blue_ waffle."

I stared at her in amazement. She went through all that, just to make me feel better. She even had a little argument with Smelly Gabe, and she rarely got into them.

"And your blueberry smoothie," she said putting a straw in the smoothie.

A big smile came on my face. "Thanks a lot Mom."

She got the other breakfast for Smelly Gabe.

"And, Gabe," she said sweetly. "I think you were proven wrong."

He stared in disbelief at the blue breakfast she gave him. Blue waffles, blue pancakes, all on a blue plate with blue utensils.

"What would you like for your drink?" my mom said. "I have some blueberry smoothie left over from Percy's or I have blue milk."

Gabe's friends roared with laughter as his face turned a bright shade of pink.

"I'd like some Coke then," he challenged. "There's no such thing as blue Coke."

"Who the heck drinks Coke with breakfast?" I accidentally said out loud. "Especially with waffles and pancakes?"

Gabe glared at me. "You'd better shut that mouth of yours, punk or I'll—"

"Next thing you know, you start eating cereal with Coke instead of milk," I said.

"Here's your Coke, dear. You might want to check its color," my mom said cutting in.

Gabe stared in outrage at the blue Coke sitting in front of him. I tried not to laugh at his expression.

"Sorry, Gabe," my mom said. "If you don't like blue, I'll do you another color—like I don't know, maybe red?"

Gabe's face turned as red as a tomato. His friends stared at him as if seeing what he would do.

"You're going to regret ever doing this to me Sally," he said.

"I did it for my son—your stepson—Percy," she said. "He was feeling down today, if you haven't noticed. If you haven't—well, you must be a terrible stepfather."

I grinned. "Thanks for the blue breakfast, Mom. It got me out from feeling blue." I put my plate and cup in the sink.

My mom laughed. "You're welcome. I'll bake some blue chocolate chip cookies for you in a bit, okay?"

"You're the best, Mom," I said and went in my room, savoring the outraged look on Smelly Gabe's face.


	6. Stalkers and Snakes

**Okay, I officially hate school. We got our book report yesterday for English, and I chose the CD project (because I hate puppets and I hate talking in front of crowds) where I need to get four songs that are related to like our theme, personality of the main character, or anything that reminds us of the book. But the problem is, I don't know any songs, since I only listen to classical music. Ugh... And it's due next Friday.  
And then I have a science fair report, which is doable, except we need to write about connections between our project and a field of interest. And what connections are there between rotting and music and rotting and art (well, I already wrote about the project One Third by Klaus Pichler). Psh. I hate my school.  
**

**Anyway, response time (that name was awful)!**

**Sleepwalkingluna14: Thanks. I'm glad you liked it. :)  
**

**Sparklegem8: Thanks a lot! For KC, I think it'll have to wait a bit, because I need to reread them (I haven't read them for a while) to get to know the characters again and such. But it probably _will_ be written, just later. :)**

**shut up and kiss her: Thank you. I'm glad you liked it. 3  
**

**And without further ado, here's the next chapter (which I'm not really pleased with)!**

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_During third grade, a man in a black trench coat had stalked me on the playground. When the teachers threatened to call the police, he went away growling, but no one believed me when I told them that under his broad-rimmed hat, the man only had one eye in the middle of his head._

_Before that—a really early memory. I was in preschool, and a teacher accidentally put me down for a nap in a cot that a snake slithered into. My mom screamed when she came to pick me up and found me playing with a limp, scaly rope I'd somehow managed to strangle to death with my meaty toddler hands. –p. 40 __The Lightning Thief_

* * *

The bell rang for recess. "Dismissed!" our teacher said.

We all ran out with a lot of pushing. Just a bit more of this, and the door would break down. I really wouldn't be surprised if that happened.

My head was still swimming with a bunch of numbers with no meaning. I bought a bag of chips and walked along the playground munching on them.

Our school's playground was on the upper floor next to the parking lot. It probably wasn't very secure because of that, since the parking lot was always open and strangers could just easily come in. I still remember our torturous assembly on it.

"Please be careful on the playground," our principal, Mr. Alvarado said. "The parking lot is always open, and strangers can come in."

_Then why don't you just close it and let people street-park?_ I thought.

"So when you see a stranger, quickly tell a teacher who will be supervising on the playground. Make sure you don't talk to the stranger, because…?" he let us finish.

"Stranger danger," we all said. I felt like we were back in kindergarten.

"And now moving on to other matters…"

I spaced out the rest of the time. Anyway, I didn't think that it would actually happen, especially a stranger with only one eye.

I poured the rest of the chips down my throat and kept walking. I looked for something to do, which was hard, since I didn't have any friends, and the ball room (where all the balls like soccer balls and basketballs are, obviously) was closed.

The swing sets were occupied by some girls who were gossiping about who likes who and whatnot. I didn't really want to join.

There was a rumbling sound behind me.

I looked behind me, wondering if a strange truck had snuck up behind me. Instead of the truck however, I saw a big man, over six feet tall, in a black trench coat with a black hat that hid his face. When he tilted his head, I swore I saw a red eye in the middle of his head, looking at me hungrily.

I backed up and tried not to be rude. "Um… Hello?"

The man didn't say a word.

I kept walking, hoping that the man just came here by an accident and was going to leave soon—hopefully _very_ soon. But no, of course he had to keep following me.

"Are you lost?" I asked.

The man shook his head slightly.

Then maybe he was here to pick someone up? But then again, I didn't know anyone who knew an over six-foot-tall man who only had one eye. "Are you looking for someone?"

"Yes," he rumbled. "He's right here."

I got kind of freaked about that. I hoped he didn't mean me. I walked at a faster pace, hoping to lose my new stalker. Thought that worked? Not even a bit.

"Hey, Jackson!" a kid called. "Who's that new big bodyguard of yours?"

His group started laughing and high-fiving each other. Clearly they weren't following the rule of telling a teacher when a stranger came. Oh… good idea.

I scanned the area for a nearby teacher, and I found one talking on her phone. Typical.

"Um, excuse me?" I said running over. The man caught up to me in a few steps.

"Yeah, hold on, someone's calling. Talk to you later," she said and hung up. "Yes?"

Clearly she didn't notice my new "bodyguard." "I have a stalker."

"Huh?" she said with a confused expression. Then she looked back. "Oh, hello! We've heard that you've been… ah, disturbing one of our students here. May we ask you to leave peacefully?"

The man didn't move a muscle.

"Hey, Clara, I heard that a strange man was here," another teacher said running up to her. A few more teachers followed.

One, who I recognized as my teacher, Mr. Columbus, said, "I'm sorry, but if you have no business here, we have to ask you to leave. If you don't, we'll have to call the police."

The man growled. I saw his red eye again, and I knew that I wasn't seeing things. It was real. The man stormed away muttering something about losing a meal.

Mr. Columbus looked at me. "Are you okay?"

I stayed frozen for a second before answering. "That man had one eye."

"Sorry?"

"He had one eye," I repeated. "A big red one, in the middle of his head."

He shook his head. "You probably were seeing things. It's impossible that that man only had one eye."

"I saw it!" I said, getting a bit annoyed. "When he tilted his head, I saw the one eye right here!" I pointed at my forehead.

The teachers sighed and just told me to go enjoy the rest of my recess.

Some kids asked what happened, and I told them about the man with one eye, and they stared at me with a scared look before laughing.

When I got home, I told my mom about the whole event, and she gave me the same scared look, like she's been caught at doing something bad.

"We'll switch schools," she said. "Nothing serious."

"But I didn't even _do_ anything wrong this time!"

"I know, Percy," she said. "Just trust me. We'll move schools. It's for your own good."

Again, I didn't know what she meant. I just assumed that she was the overprotective mother. Of course, I was wrong (not that it was unusual or anything).

* * *

I blinked. I saw my reflection bouncing off the door, but that wasn't what I was looking at. Slithering through a crack through the door was a long scaly rope. But it had eyes. And it moved. Ropes weren't supposed to move on their own, were they?

I yawned, just as the teacher turned off the lights for nap time. I saw the rope go into one of the cots and the teacher put me down on that cot. Was that even safe? I didn't know.

My eyes grew heavy and they closed on their own. I felt something cold and scaly come into my hands. I grabbed it out of instinct and squeezed it. I heard a _hiss_ and something licking my hands. I squeezed the thing tighter as I fell asleep.

When I woke up, I saw that I had the rope that I had seen before the nap. I rubbed the sleep out of my eyes. I recoiled back. I finally realized what the "rope" actually was. I remembered seeing it in a book that my mom read to me.

"A snake?" I mumbled.

The snake wasn't moving. Its eyes were locked on something distant in space.

_Doesn't seem harmful,_ I thought as I grabbed it again.

I started tying it into a knot and pulled both of the ends hard. When the teachers came to wake us up, I quickly hid it behind my back.

"What's that behind your back, Perseus?" my teacher joked at she folded up the cots.

"It's a rope!" I lied. "But it looks like a snake."

"Really?" she said smiling. "But don't play with toys when its nap time, okay?"

I nodded, bobbing my head up and down like a bobble head. As the teachers left us alone for us to play, I kept playing with the snake, like pinching it and untying the knot and tying it again. I tried poking its big eye with my finger, and then pulled away quickly.

I opened its jaw and peered inside. "Yuck," I said gagging at the smell.

Its fangs were huge, and peering into its mouth made it seem endless. It smelled pretty bad too, like its last meal. I quickly closed its mouth.

I started tying it up again when my mom came to pick me up.

She screamed. "Percy, what are you doing?"

I looked at my snake. "I'm playing with a snake."

"What?" the teachers came in to look.

"Where did you find that?" my mom said holding me in her arms.

"I saw it come through the door," I said pointing at the door.

My mom shook her head. "You shouldn't play with snakes. What if they're poisonous? They could kill you!"

"Sorry, Mommy," I said. "Then what happens to the snake?"

"We'll bury it outside," she said. "That way you know that you actually cared for it, and it'll go back to nature."

"Okay, Mommy!" I smiled.

"We're so sorry," the teachers said. "We didn't see the snake come in. And Percy said that it was just a rope shaped like a snake… I thought that was weird, but I didn't know that it was real!"

"It's okay," my mom said. "He's perfectly fine, and it won't happen again. Right, sweetie?"

I nodded earnestly and my mom held my hand as we walked out the door.


	7. Prohibition

**I'm so sorry I didn't update for such a long time! I was so busy with school and such. T^T But I'm back, hopefully for a while, wince my break is coming up soon. :) **

**And because I didn't update for some time, I kinda lost track of the reviews. ^^'**

**butterflygirly99: Good idea. I missed that, so I'll add in the missing ones in the end. :)  
**

**And for this chapter, it's in the nymph's POV or just third person, because it just seems odd to be writing in a god's POV. Mr. D may be OOC.**

* * *

"_The first time, prohibition. Ghastly! Absolutely ten years! The second time—well, she really was pretty, and I couldn't stay away—the second time, he sent me here." – __The Lightning Thief__ pg. 70_

* * *

I squeaked as I saw the god running behind me. I broke out into a run just like the other nymphs had. Out of all the gods, why did it have to be _that_ drunk god? Or maybe he wasn't drunk and just acted drunk all the time… Who knows?

"Come here sweet Hickory!" he said not even looking at where he was running. He ran into a Greek column.

"I'm not interested!" I yelled back. "And my name's Maple, not Hickory."

Dionysus kept chasing me with his potbelly bouncing up and down. How he ran like that, I don't know. He kept running into columns and gods and other demigods.

I looked ahead, both disgusted and horrified by the person behind me. I ran into the throne room where the Olympian council sat in their meeting.

"Where's Dionysus?" Zeus rumbled.

"Oh, my darling Holly!" Dionysus swooned.

He stopped when all the gods stared down at him who was still in his mortal form. Artemis had an enraged look on her face.

"Maple is a nymph that's off limits," she said clipping off each word with anger.

"I'm disappointed in you," Zeus said. I thought I heard him mumble, "Though I've seen you do some worse things before."

"Hmph!" he said. "Father, you never let me have fun."

"Punishment," he said. "Prohibition for a decade."

"A decade…" Dionysus muttered. "How long is that again?"

"Ten years," Athena said rolling her eyes. "That's like one of the basic of the most basic things. How could you _not_ know?"

"I'm a _god!_ I don't need to know such things! And prohibition? Really? I'm the god of wine, and I'm banned from drinking wine!"

"If you don't stop complaining, it'll be a century," Zeus warned and Dionysus shut up.

I sighed in relief, glad that I was saved.

Dionysus made a glass of wine appear in his hand. He was about to take a sip when Zeus stepped in.

"Prohibition," he said, smoothly replacing his drink with Diet Coke.

"Drat," he muttered. "It was just one cup for Zeus's sake!"

"Don't talk like that with your father in front of you."

Dionysus grumbled and stormed away.

A few weeks later, he was grumbling again and was on the verge of a tantrum.

"I can't live this long without wine!" he protested. "Father, can you _please_ shorten the prohibition?"

"It's been only a few weeks," Ares yawned. "And besides, you're immortal so time should pass quickly."

"For once, that disgraceful son of mine is right," Hera sniffed. "Just drink some do mortal drinks instead. What do they call them—sodas?"

"I tried."

"Well, then become the god of Diet Coke or something!" Zeus said throwing his hands up in the air. "Either way, you're still on prohibition."

* * *

"Yes, the prohibition is lifted!" Dionysus cackled in delight. He looked around and saw the nearest person—a pretty nymph with long auburn hair and petite features. "Did you hear that Maple?"

I flinched as he found me again. Why was my luck so rotten? Either Tyche resented me, or Nemesis favored me. I broke out into a run again with him chasing me again just like ten years ago.

"Aw, come on Maple! You could at least say congratulations on surviving ten years without wine!" he said, his arms stretched out.

"Congratulations!" I yelled. "But I'm a maiden, and will always be a maiden, so please go away!"

I stopped by the garden on Olympus and turned into a maple tree with a _pop!_ I watched as Dionysus stumbled around, still looking for me.

"Are you looking for something?" Demeter asked huffily. "I know you're all like on cloud nine, but if there's no reason for you to be here, you need to leave. Oh, and if you're looking for the grapes, they're on the edge of the garden."

"Oh, no," he said sarcastically. "I just happened to look for a runaway nymph."

"That probably didn't want to be with a drunkard like you," Demeter snapped back.

"I'm not drunk! I lived on soda for a decade!"

I turned back into human and went back to running.

"Oh look! Gotta go!" he said when he saw me.

I ran to Zeus's temple and hid behind one of the huge columns. Lightning flashed, showing Dionysus's silhouette in the distance. He ran into the temple calling my name without noticing me. I sighed in relief and slumped down.

"Dionysus, were you chasing that nymph again?" Zeus roared from inside.

"No, Father," he said. "I was just playing tag with her."

I peeked inside and Zeus shook his head. "You should start helping mortals instead of just tearing them down. You were mortal too once you know! Go to Camp Half-Blood and help out."

"What?! That silly little training camp for the wannabes? I'd rather go to Tartarus!" he said waving his hand.

Zeus wasn't listening. "So let's see… Second time offending a nymph… That equals up to a century serving in the camp."

"_What?"_

"And of course, no alcohol," he added. "Now off you go!"

"I don't want to be running that silly camp!"

"You won't be. Chiron's there too, remember?"

"That old horseman? No way!" he whined.

Zeus waved his hand and Dionysus disappeared with a scream.

"Ah, so I see," Chiron said as Dionysus finished his story. "Well, that's quite… interesting. But please Mr. D, there are some rules to being the director of the camp. There's no harming any of the campers. No alcohol. No bad influences, and so forth."

Mr. D snorted. "So I'm known as Mr. D now? And why are you in a wheelchair?"

"Yes, the campers are quite keen to meet you," Chiron said. "And if you didn't know—and I'm not really surprised since you only read wine magazines—I'm too tall to fit through doors. And it's better for mortals to see me this way."

"Blah, blah, blah," he muttered and stood up. "I can't wait until my punishment is over."


End file.
